Feb. 15, 2002

The University of Houston men's basketball team will be looking for their second straight win when the Cougars travel to Memphis, Tenn. for a Conference USA game on Saturday, February 16 at 1:00 p.m. on the Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion.

The Cougars enter the game 13-11 overall, and are in second place in the National Division standings of Conference USA with a 6-5 league record.

Memphis has a 20-6 overall record and the Tigers lead the National Division with a 10-2 mark in C-USA play.

The Teams
Houston enters the Memphis game looking for its second win in a row and third victory in the last four games after beating South Florida, 91-75, in Houston last Tuesday night. Before the South Florida game, Houston suffered an 87-68 loss at TCU on February 9 and defeated Southern Miss, 68-60, in Hattiesburg, Miss. on February 5 to snap a three-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, Memphis enters Saturday's game looking to snap a two-game losing streak after winning its first 10 league games. The Tigers suffered a 64-46 loss at UAB on February 8 and a 75-63 loss at Charlotte on February 13. Memphis is one of three Conference USA teams to have 20 wins this season and C-USA is the only league in the country which boasts three 20-win teams.

Series History
Houston and Memphis will meet for the second time this season and the Cougars will be looking to avenge an 84-66 loss in Houston on January 26. This will be the 18th game overall between the two schools and Houston enters the contest with a 7-10 overall record versus the Tigers in a series that began in 1956-57 when both schools were members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Memphis won the first two games in the series and the two teams did not play each other again until the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Houston beat Memphis, 70-63, in a Sweet 16 contest at Kansas City that year. The Cougars won another Sweet 16 game, 78-71, the following year.

Houston and Memphis didn't meet again until January 3, 1995 when the Tigers won a 96-77 decision in the Pyramid. The Cougars upset third-ranked Memphis, 69-67, in Houston on January 6, 1996. A year later, Houston joined Conference USA and beat the Tigers, 72-67, in overtime at Houston and suffered an 85-72 setback in Memphis.

The Tigers also won both games in 1997-98. The Cougars won the next three games between the two schools including a 79-78 victory in the Pyramid on February 6, 1999 for their first C-USA road win in school history.

Houston enters Saturday's game having lost the last four games against Memphis, including a 72-68 setback in the Pyramid last year.

Last Time Out
Forwards Louis Truscott and George Williams combined to score 47 points to lead the Houston to a 91-75 victory over South Florida. Truscott scored a career-high 27 points. Williams added his fifth double double of the season with 22 points and a season-high 14 rebounds as the Cougars snapped a four-game losing streak against the Bulls.

Houston entered the game concerned about South Florida's 1-3-1 half-court trapping defense, but the Cougars maintained their composure throughout the game as guards Kevin Gaines and Dominic Smith worked the ball inside to Truscott, Williams and Patrick Okafor. Gaines also provided some timely outside shooting early in the game as he hit his first three three-point attempts in the game and ended the night hitting four of six beyond the three-point arc to score 12 points. He also handed out a career-high nine assists.

Smith also hit some clutch shots in the second half and finished the game with 19 points and three assists.

Williams also ended the night with one of his best performances of the season with five assists and four blocked shots to go along with his double double. The Cougars opened the game the game with a 15-9 lead on an 18-foot jumper by Truscott.

After South Florida tied the game, 43-43, with 17:34 left to play, Houston regained the lead and was leading 61-55 with 9:00 to play.

The Cougars scored on their next eight possessions and went on an 18-6 run to extend its lead to 79-61 with 3:36 left to play. They never looked back and went on to win 91-75.

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